


Only to Find I've Come Alive

by LadyKnightOfHollyrose



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Graffiti, KuroDai Bingo 2015, Non-Binary Kuroo, Non-binary character, Other, Pre-Slash, Shippy Gen, spectrum slide, street art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 05:52:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4467854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKnightOfHollyrose/pseuds/LadyKnightOfHollyrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I was walking home after a late shift at work and caught you graffiting a wall. You were going to run away but I stopped you because I  want to see the finished piece, and now you're sort of teaching me as you paint and it's awesome?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only to Find I've Come Alive

**Author's Note:**

> For KuroDai Bingo - Genderbend AU
> 
> (Also based on the above AU from tumblr, which can be found here: http://graysoninthesky.tumblr.com/post/113813299554/inthebackoftheimpala-cliffnotesofanerd )

The streetlights lining the road flicker half-heartedly as Kuroo drags themself home. Despite the way that it makes darkness seem to creep into the edges of their vision, Kuroo can’t bring themself to blame them.

They’re pretty exhausted themself.

About halfway through their walk back, Kuroo notices some movement at the corner of their vision. They almost dismiss it as their imagination, but there’s something that makes them stop in their tracks.

It’s just the side of a building; bricks red as rust piled high like blocks of lego ending in a tiny mountain of bin liners and a dumpster. There’s nothing remarkable there worth noting, and it takes a moment of squinting before Kuroo even realises what it is that caught their eye.

Fine white lines swirl over the brick in a delicate pattern that Kuroo can’t discern. It’s faint, but as Kuroo crosses the road in a trance, they can tell that there’s some sort of thought there even if Kuroo can’t make head nor tail of it

There’s a definite furrow between Kuroo’s brows by the time they reach the curb and-

_One of the bin liners is moving._

Kuroo holds their breath, heart starting to crawl up their throat as they freeze in place.

There’s another rustle, inky black rippling slightly, before something extends from the mass and brandishes- is that _chalk_?

The figure continues to unfurl slowly until Kuroo can make out a silhouette as the bin liner transforms into the back of a leather jacket, dark, lowslung jeans starting to protrude from the ends as it grows taller.

The owner of said jacket and jeans still hasn’t noticed the spectator that has snuck up behind them and Kuroo takes the opportunity to have a closer look at the rough canvas laid out before them.

Even from their new vantage point Kuroo’s no closer to being able to see the bigger picture made from the swirls and lines of chalk that litter the wall.

Well, only one way to find out.

“So, I get that this is going to be a mural and not just a tag, but what’s it supposed to be _of_?”

Leather jacket goes stock still for a moment, head turned to the side to peer at Kuroo with brown eyes that pierce. Apart from fluffy looking black hair, Kuroo can only make out the slight roundness of soft  cheeks over the scarf covering the bottom half of Leather Jacket’s face, a bead of sweat rolling down from their temple into the fabric.

Then Leather Jacket’s shoving chalky hands into pockets and racing away, the night swallowing them before Kuroo can call out in protest.

Biting their lip, Kuroo turns their attention back to the wall, snaps a quick picture on their phone, then resigns themself to the fact that there’s no more excitement to be had tonight and continuing on their way home.

—

Daichi can’t help but feel twitchy as she inspects the street for passersby; it’s the first time she has returned after being so rudely interrupted three days before, after all, and even though she hasn’t been carted away for defacing a building yet there’s no guarantee she won’t be ambushed today.

Still, the coast seems clear for the moment, and now that she’s figured out the placement she’s eager to get stuck in with the spray paint.

Shouldering her backpack, she slinks from shadow to shadow in an attempt at discretion (she’s definitely glad she didn’t take Noya up on her offer to watch Daichi’s back as she feels completely ridiculous all the while).

It’s a longer walk than usual, but by the time she’s reached her wall she’s the only thing moving on the street. She lets out a long breath.

Then she turns her attention to arguably more important matters.

Daichi crouches down and gets to work.

Her masterpiece is almost there; the bare bones are arranged and now all that’s left is to flesh it out, to bring it to life.  

Her chalk vanishes into a pocket of her bag, her hand re-emerging with a can of spray paint that chills her fingers.

Daichi grins.

Time to get to work.

–

While they certainly haven’t forgotten about their encounter - if one could even call it that - with Leather Jacket earlier on in the week, after no sign of the artist and having been on an earlier shift the following few days, Kuroo’s not on the lookout for Leather Jacket as they had been in the few days immediately after scaring them off inadvertently.

Kuroo’s pretty sure there’s a quote out there somewhere about finding this when you’re not looking for them; it’d probably be quite fitting if they could just remember it.

Leather Jacket’s made a fair bit of progress since Kuroo last saw them; there’s no trace of chalk left on the wall, the outline now covered by thicker lines of spray paint. Leather Jacket’s filling in some of the gaps with a light grey.

Kuroo watches them work, fascinated by the way the outline is being steadily covered by blotches of colour. Kuroo has always scoffed at the idea when it has come up in books in the past that makes it seem as though the spray can is a _part_ of Leather Jacket. Maybe it’s the quiet confidence, the _surety_ of their movements as the can is guided in exactly the right place like an extension of Leather Jacket’s arm.

After a quick internal debate, Kuroo decides to wait until Leather Jacket pauses to swap colours before attempting conversation again; while it gives Leather Jacket the opportunity to escape again, Kuroo’s now _far_ too invested in the finished product to ruin it by a surprise attack by accident.

“…I’m still struggling to see the bigger picture here,” Kuroo finally confesses as Leather Jacket tests the spray against a piece of cardboard.

Considering the response they got the last time they were there, Kuroo’s expecting _some_ kind of reaction. So they’re a little disappointed when all they get is Leather Jacket glancing over their shoulder, one brow raised, before giving half a shrug and turning their attention back to the _brick wall._

Not even a _squeak_.

Since it seems that that’s all Kuroo will be getting (it’s rather had to tell from the way that half of Leather Jacket’s face is covered by a respirator), they decide to plough ahead.

“What, so you’re not going to run off this time around?”

Kuroo thinks they hear a snort over the soft whssh of the spray.

“Considering you’ve been gawking for the past ten minutes and I still can’t hear any sirens I figure I’m good.”

“I _could_ just be under cover.”

“Uh _huh_ ,” is the flat response Kuroo gets. “That’s _exactly_ what someone who’s under cover would say.”

“Could just be a red herring,” Kuroo counters persistently, not even sure why they’re still arguing back. Maybe it’s just to hear more of Leather Jacket’s voice.

Leather Jacket just snorts softly again, under their breath. “D’you want to watch or not? I could chase you away but I have a feeling you’d just come back, and I’m working to a schedule here.”

Kuroo hums in mock consideration. “Okay,” they concede. Leather Jackets sighs in relief and is turning back to the wall again when Kuroo continues, making Leather Jacket freeze. “But. Can I at least have a name to put to the incomprehensible but otherwise amazing mural?”

Leather Jacket squints at Kuroo suspiciously, probably trying to tell if the compliment had been in an attempt to get into their good graces long enough to get a name.

Kuroo flutters their lashes back in an attempt to look completely harmless (because although it hadn’t been the sole intention they can’t say it hadn’t crossed their mind).

Leather Jacket’s eyes narrow. Then. “It’s Sawamura.”

Kuroo blinks. Because that name sounds awfully familiar. Actually come to think of it, Manabu who _is_ on the force might have mentioned-

Oh wait.

“You mean _you’re_ Sawamura??”

Because Sawamura is the current leader of Karasuno, an all-female group who have been leaving artistic gifts all over the city making pointed comments about how things work in the area (and the world in general).

Leather Ja- _Sawamura_ puts the can down into her open backpack and slides the respirator down her face so that it hangs around her neck and _glares_.

“You got a problem with that?”

She’s squared her shoulders, hands going to her hips. Even with such a grounded stance, Kuroo can tell she’ll be halfway down the street again if given half a reason.

Kuroo chooses their next words _very_ carefully.

“No. Just thought you’d be a bit taller is all.”

There’s a brief pause, a silence that Kuroo doesn’t dare to break; doesn’t dare to _breathe_.

Then Sawamura scowls but some of the tension is draining from her shoulders. “You’re not _that_ much taller than me.”

This time when she whips the can back out again Kuroo lets her continue without interruption, watching as the outline disappears beneath blocky colour.

In fact, Kuroo manages to keep their peace long enough that eventually Sawamura’s moving on from the coloured splodges and onto a solid black, carefully tracing the outlines of each one.

Kuroo watches her move from one shape to the next, brows furrowed as they watch her work.

“…How are you getting the line to be so thin?”

There hadn’t been anything special on the can aerosol itself to suggest that the spray would come out any differently when Sawamura had picked it up; if she’d been working on her blocks of colour with the same thickness of paint earlier, however, Kuroo is willing to bet that it would take another two weeks at _least_ for Sawamura to complete her masterpiece.

Sawamura’s hands stay completely steady as she replies. “It’s all about how close you are to your canvas and how fast you move. You’ve got to know exactly where you’re going or it doesn’t work though.”

“So what, d’you practice on paper before you get to the real thing or something?”

Sawamura shrugs. “That’s part of it. And no one’s stopping you from keeping a reference picture.” Her hand glides as she guides the paint along in smooth lines that taper off. Now that Kuroo’s paying attention to it, it _does_ seem as though the can is being held closer to the wall than earlier. “With the outlines, if you want to keep it thin you have to move fast, and with conviction.”

She outlines another shape, a vaguely yellow splodge this time, and then eyes Kuroo’s no doubt sceptical expression.

“It’s kind of hard to explain; you’d get it if you tried it for yourself.”

Kuroo hums softly at this. She’s a kinaesthetic learner anyway so Sawamura’s probably right about that one.

“ _Can_ I try it?”

This has Sawamura raising a brow as she swaps to another colour again. “Um. No? Graffiti might be about layering things up but it’s not practical for me to paint over your stuff if you get something wrong, it’d take too long.”

“But what about if I just tried it out on the dumpster or something instead?”

Sawamura chews her bottom lip as she considers.

Kuroo can see her resistance crumbling though. “Please? Like, if you have a spare can of paint that’s running out anyway or something.”

Sawamura’s lips thin. Then she heaves a sigh and rummages through her backpack.

“I’m going to be climbing onto that dumpster’s lid in a few minutes, so if you get any paint on my clothes there’s going to be hell to pay. Got it?”

Even with the four inches Kuroo has on her, Sawamura somehow manages to seem threatening. Still, she tosses a can towards Kuroo and comes to stand next to them.

Kuroo rolles the can from one hand to the other as she uses her teeth to pull on the clear, plastic gloves she’s then offered on to each hand. The can itself is light, and she shakes it a bit before uncapping it.

They almost startle when Sawamura reaches forward to position her hand.

First, she brings Kuroo’s hand close to the dark plastic of the dumpster, one hand closing over the top of the spray where Kuroo’s finger is poised and the other reaching down to steady the bottom of the can. She presses lightly down on Kuroo’s finger and draws the can towards her in a steady line.

Then she draws back enough to draw Kuroo’s hand back a little so it’s further away, roughly drawing and filling in a square near the dumpster’s lid with slower, broader movements.

“Does that give you a better idea?”

Sawamura’s breath tickles Kuroo’s neck just a little, her hand still warm over Kuroo’s.

“I think so.”

Kuroo catches a nod from the corner of their eye, and then Sawamura’s withdrawing and heading back to her own work. Kuroo briefly mourns the loss of gentle pressure on their fingers and the slight warmth of Sawaura’s back as she’d walked them through the short demonstration.

They watch as Sawamura settles back into the rhythm of her own work before turning back to the dumpster, arm moving mindlessly as they attempted it for themself.

Kuroo’s not sure how long has passed when they next glance up; having grown tired of block colour fairly quickly they had moved on to doodling cat faces of varied sizes over any free space they could find.

The progress Sawamura has made in that time (without Kuroo dragging her attention away) is phenomenal.

Because out of the random bursts of colour that had first decorated the wall an image is emerging, brought to life as Sawamura once more wields a can of black paint, the shadows that she adds making the images pop from the wall.

The way her wrist flicks seems to make the paint fade out into a gradient instead creating of a harsh line, and Kuroo bites their lip in concentration as their eyes follow the movement. Then they turned back to their dumpster to attempt to replicate the effect themself.

(Turns out that it is a _lot_ more difficult than it looks)

Sawamura clambers down from her perch and inspects Kuroo’s handiwork.

“Hang on,” she says as she sets her can down and reaches around Kuroo to grab their hand again to reposition it to a steeper angle. “Try this.”

Kuroo does.

Sawamura gives them a nod of approval, a smile flickering over her face. She wanders back over to her backpack and plucks out one last can, tilting her head back to survey her work. Kuroo goes over to join her marvelling at how far it had come in the last… couple of hours? (And now that Kuroo’s checking their phone they can’t believe how long they’ve been out here with Sawamura; how alive they feel even after a gruelling day at work).

“You can’t have much left to do now, right?”

“Just got to add the highlights in. Since I’m feeling generous, there’s a corner there that doesn’t have anything in it if you want to add something?”

Kuroo blinks at her in disbelief (because that’s a _lot_ of trust being put into someone who had managed to chase Sawamura off not so long ago). And granted it is a truly tiny corner that will probably be covered by stacked rubbish in the near future but. The very idea of being able to leave their mark is enough to have Kuroo a little giddy, and from Sawamura’s snort it probably shows on their face.

Sawamura leaves them to it, and Kuroo considers what they want to do.

With less than a day with a spray paint can, although Kuroo can now aim the paint more or less where they intend it to go, they’re aware that this isn’t the time to get ambitious. They’re just adding the final touches to their contribution when they hear a slight rustle.

Then, they here muttering that sounds oddly familiar.

 _Oh shit_.

“ _Sawamura_ ,” Kuroo hisses, glad that she’s still on the ground rather than on the dumpster again. “ _Cops_!”

Sawamura freezes. Then she’s cursing under her breath, wrestling her respirator from her face and dropping her can into her backpack before grabbing Kuroo’s from them too. She then swings it onto her back, and after one brief, wistful look back at the near complete mural she grabs Kuroo’s hand and _runs_.

–

They’re lucky that the one that catches them is Manabu (“That’s Officer Manabu to you right now!”), really, who takes one look at Kuroo and scowls.

Thanks to Kuroo’s sharp ears they’d managed to get a headstart, Sawamura managing to stash her backpack as they’d fled the scene so that by the time Manabu and his partner catch up to them the only thing suspicious about them is the fact that they’d been running, and the speckles of paint decorating them.

They know the chances of an answer are slim, but when offered a phone call Kuroo dials Kenma’s number. They aren’t surprised to hear the generic answering phone message that greets them – Kenma’s probably got his headphones on and fighting boss battles after all.

They’re taken aside while Sawamura makes her own attempt at contacting friends.

When Sawamura trudges back with a scowl that mirrors Manabu’s, Kuroo sighs.

Once Manabu has delivered another lecture and  _finally_ let them be, Kuroo slumps into Sawamura’s shoulder. “Could be worse, I guess. Could be here for longer than just overnight.”

Sawamura just groans into Kuroo’s hair.

After a few moments, Sawamura shoves Kuroo lightly off her. “What did you do with your little corner anyway?”

Kuroo sits up and glances down at Sawamura next to them. Without the respirator covering half of her face she’s pretty expressive; in fact, as her eyes trace _Kuroo’s_ face her lips twitch as though she’s biting back a smile.

Kuroo’s fingers rub self-consciously at their face until they feel skin change to the smoother texture of paint. They wrinkle their nose, but there’s nothing they can do about the paint for now. Sawamura’s outright chuckling at her chagrin; Kuroo rolls her eyes but can’t help but grin back at the way the laugh brings warmth to Sawamura’s eyes.

They think of the little paw print they’d left in the corner of Sawamura’s masterpiece. Kuroo’s already thinking of a hundred reasons why it’s a bad idea (their current predicament being the top of that list), but her grin turns to a smirk.

“Why don’t we go check once we get out of here?”

**Author's Note:**

> As you may have guessed, I have no idea how actual graffiti-ing works, and am not particularly artistic XD So any descriptions etc are just things I think I’ve seen in videos and could be completely wrong ^^’ (I might’ve bitten off more than I could chew with this one!)
> 
> Anywhere here are the resources I referred to while writing this:
> 
> Videos: [[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8d7ExMvGao)] [[2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg4yQER4wuo)] [[3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x50967zc3bU)] [[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsuo0Tvwd2k)]  
> Websites: [[1](http://www.graffitiacademy.com/About.html)] [[2](http://www.stencilrevolution.com/tutorials/respirator-chemical-safety-guide/)]  
> (Seriously if you’re interested in graffiti? There’s some _amazing_ stuff in Bristol and that’s not even including Banksy XD)  
>  I have one more square left on my bingo card to have a whole line finished (which considering the month I’ve had, is more than I ever expected to get done XD) but I’m not sure I’ll be able to get away with writing anymore today for the last prompt ;w; I will try though! It’ll depend on how often my mum comes up to check on my unpacking progress orz  
> 


End file.
